Jewkes and Kovar Head to the National Stage

Men's Track & Field 5/17/2014 6:15:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Russell Nielson Captures Big Sky Title; Men in Third, Women Fifth

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - May 16 - Southern Utah University's Russell Nielson captured the Thunderbirds' only title on Thursday as the Big Sky Track & Field championships continued on the campus of Northern Arizona. The sophomore threw a career-best 204 feet nine inches in the javelin to highlight SUU's performances on day three of the championship.

The Thunderbird men also tallied 14 points from the 5,000-meters as SUU runners finished in three of the top seven spots. The group was led by Nate Jewkes with a second-place time of 31:08.17 and he was followed by Hayden Hawks in fifth (32:01.53) and Ibrahim Ahmed in seventh with a time of 32:11.61. Southern Utah distance runners also recorded points in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase as Anthony Brown finished third with a time of 9:42.25 and Dylan Marx finished seventh with a time of 10:01.09, garnering six and two points, respectively.

Southern Utah picked up ten points with Nielson's title in the javelin and also picked up three points from Jayson Kovar's sixth-place finish in the shot put after the sophomore threw 52 feet 11 inches. The points, in addition to Eric Durrant's three points picked up from a sixth-place finish in the decathlon on Wednesday, gave SUU a total of 39 points and put the Thunderbird men in third place heading into the final day of competition on Saturday.

SUU will be represented in several finals after Shaun Murray recorded the top qualifying times in his respective heats of the 100-meters (10.36) and 200-meters (21.35). He will be joined in the finals of the 100-meters by teammate Preston Myers with a qualifying time of 10.53. The men will also be represented in the 800-meters as Mike Tate and Eric Sandall posted qualifying times of 1:55.60 and 1:53.46, respectively.

On the women's side, SUU picked up qualifying times from Mayra Franco in the 100-meter dash (11.68) and Aubrey Bryson in the 800-meters (2:13.62) with the duo set to compete in the finals tomorrow.

Southern Utah picked up points in the field events during the day as Kayla Kovar finished as the runner-up in both the women's discus and hammer throw, tossing marks of 162 feet four inches and 206 feet three inches, respectively. The women also collected points in the women's high jump as Shaye Maurer-Springall cleared the bar at five feet five inches to finished tied for fourth.

SUU is currently in fifth place on the women's side with 18 points.

The championship will continue tomorrow, beginning with the men's hammer throw at 10:00 a.m. and wrap up with the women's 4x400-meter relay set to start at 3:50 p.m.

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